Tsunami claims at least 23,000

[vandalous]

Link to CNN story. Excerpt below...

"COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Weeping residents combed through debris and stunned tourists wandered through litter-strewn streets on Monday, a day after tsunamis swept across the Indian Ocean from Thailand to Somalia, killing at least 23,000 people.

The giant waves -- caused by the most powerful earthquake on Earth in 40 years -- also left thousands injured and missing as well as hundreds of thousands homeless in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The magnitude 9.0 quake struck about 7 a.m. Sunday (7 p.m. ET Saturday) and was centered about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 km)."

Wow. I lived in Guam and we had a tsunami warning due to an earthquake but the wave dissipated before it hit the island. Crazy stuff...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

This was a very sad thing.

I felt so bad and worthless watching this unfold on TV.

 

[John Corn]

That many people dead all at once, this is just beyond words.

Some of the footage revealed was people taking pictures as the waves came in like it was going to be OK. They just did not size up the danger quickly enough, how could you..?

Bodies washed up on tropical beaches and piled up in hospitals Monday, raising fears of disease across a 10-nation arc of destruction left by a monster earthquake and walls of water that killed more than 22,000 people

 

[Stargazer]

On Yahoo it states that the earthquake was as powerful as one million atomic bombs that hit Japan in World War II and the waves of water moved at a rate of 500 MPH taking over two hours to hit the coast lines. Geologists are saying that it may have tinkered with the rotation of the earth in which would affect our weather. They are expecting strong aftershocks as much as one year after the big one that hit.

 

[ericgtr]

This is indeed tragic and I feel terrible for the families and losses they've sufferd. I setup a relief fund on my site setting a goal of $1000 to send to Red Cross to try and do my little part in this.

 

[Stargazer]

The death toll is now around 80,000 plus.

 

[Ilya]

Make it 118,000 and counting...

For comparison, the eruption of Vesuvius killed around 2000 people in Pompei...